Disappearing Minority Races in Brazil

by Yasuha Yoshihara
(Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan)

Brazil is famous for wonderful nature--the Amazon. There are so many plants, and they provide 25% of the oxygen in the world. But do you know there are also many kinds of minority races? And do you know they are disappearing year by year?

More than 100 ethnic minorities are said to be in the whole world, and half of them are in Brazil and Peru. They live in a traditional way: they use bows and arrows to capture wild animals, wear folk costumes, and hold ceremonies in honor of their god. They owe their lives to nature.

On the other hand, Brazil is developing remarkably. People destroy Amazon's nature to pursue material affluence. People destroy ethnic minorities' societies. If people give minority races new places to live in, in exchange for taking their habitats by force, their societies will not be again as they once were. Because ethnic minorities do not know what to do without their nature, then they will disappear eventually.

I think this is a serious problem. We may forget their existence, but should not! I was born in a developed country--Japan--and there is only one people now. But the Ainu people who lived in Hokkaido also died out in the past. So we, especially young people, should think about this carefully.